Embrace the Night
by Wolfen Moondaughter
Summary: Kylie meets a stranger just as a werewolf begins attacking people...
1. Night 1: the Morning

Kylie Griffin greeted the rising sun with a smile & a quick chant. She laid an offering of a few drops of juice and bit of a croissant in the libation bowl on her windowsill. Then she quickly scarfed the rest as she got ready for classes.  
Her fellow Ghostbusters didn't know about her little morning ritual, or any of the other rituals she did, to greet the moon, to ask the Goddess for protection, to contact her late Grandmother Rose, among other things. They didn't know she was a Wiccan priestess.  
If there were any people in the world that she could tell, it would be the Ghostbusters... well, except maybe for Eduardo, he'd tease her for sure... but she just couldn't admit what she was to anyone, not even herself, really. So many Wiccans, or Witches, or Neo-Pagans, or whatever you wanted to call her ilk, were soooooo flaky, they really didn't have a clue what the paranormal world was really like, much less the real one! She didn't want to be associated with the trendy "crafty" masses. What was said & done in her spellwork was between her & the gods, & needed no label.  
Still, sometimes she wondered what it would be like to be in a Circle, a group ritual, with others like her. She was often lonely, even when with her friends. And some rituals were a lot easier when you had help! But then she remembered why she felt so lonely-- she had yet to meet someone who saw the world quite like she did. Egon came close, but he had such a scientific view of magic! There was no real spirituality in his spiritual studies. The others, while they believed in ghosts (and through them, magic), were not interested in them for any reason other than catching them. Roland wanted to build a bigger & better ghost-trap. Garrett wanted adventure. Eduardo… wanted to spend his life aggravating her, even if it meant catching ghosts to do it. At least, it was the only reason she could figure for him to be a Ghostbuster.  
She & the others often teased him about his lack of effort & called him a coward. Still, she had to admit that the truth of the matter was that they came across some things that made them ALL scared, and he always stood by them. He was often even the first to leap into danger! He'd said when they'd all first met that he had signed up for Dr. Spengler's class to get an "easy A". Well it certainly hadn't turned out to be one! Yet he was still there with them...  
Though she would never admit it, she was really glad he had stayed. Sure he teased her, and was an arrogant jerk a lot of the time, but when he wasn't, he was really sweet, even kinda cute... She wondered if it was true that a boy teased you when he really liked you...  
Ahh, but he wasn't her type. Her feelings for him were another thing she couldn't admit to herself.  
"Why can't I meet a NICE boy, Pagan, someone more like me?"  
The sun shone on a plaque on the wall, near her door. She failed to notice it as she tried to kep her cat Pagan form following her out the door. "Be Careful What You Wish For-- You Just Might Get It!"  
***  
"No, really, Eduardo, you are the bravest, handsomest, strongest man I've ever met! I just was too shy to tell you! But I can't bear to see you in the arms of other women! Please say you'll go out with me!"  
Kylie held her hands clasped in front of her, like a cute little anime-style girl, her eyes shining with tears.  
Eduardo looked first at the blond bombshell to his left, then to the brunette one on his right. "Sorry, girls." He removed his arms form around each of them & stepped forward.  
He took Kylie's hand in one of his & wiped away the tears from her cheek with the other. You could see his muscles rippling, even with such a simple gesture.  
"Kylie... You're the only girl for me..."  
"Oh, Eduardo..."  
He leaned in to kiss her. He closed his eyes, and felt his lips meet her scaly ones.  
Scaly ones?  
He opened his eyes. And screamed.  
"What's the matter, loverboy?" came Kylie's sultry voice from a 5-foot tall lizard-like ghost with horns & worms for hair.  
Eduardo screamed again, & opened his eyes for real this time. Only to see that his alarm clock read 9:10. He was already 10 minutes late for class.  
He screamed a third time & scrambled out the door. It was almost a good thing that he'd been so tired from studying all day & Ghostbusting half the night that he had fallen asleep in his clothes, so he was already dressed. And the ghost they'd chased had been some sort of water elemental, so he didn't need a shower either. Still, if he hadn't been hunting it in the first place, he wouldn't have overslept & would have had time to shower.  
If he didn't spend the night playing videogames, that is...  
Even though he'd overslept, Eduardo wished he could get just a bit more sleep. What with school, ghostbusting, & the nightmares, he wasn't getteing a whole lot of rest. And rest was what he needed most, a Garret was fond of teasing him. At the rate he'd been going at though, even if he had had time to sleep more, it probably wouldn't have done him any good.  
Ever since they'd battled Morpheus, Eduardo'd been having nightmares, bad dreams similar to the one he'd had under it's influence. They were always of Kylie. At first she seemed to like him, love him, want him. And then she changed. She suddenly would start laughing at him, mocking him. Or, like in the one he'd just had, she'd turn into a ghost, often whatever one they'd just battled. Which made sense. His waking world seemed to consist of nothing but Ghostbusting and her.  
At least this time I didn't wake up bald, he thought to himself, trying to laugh it off.  
But the root of the problem remained a dark cloud, looming over and around him. He had no goals, no ambitions. He thought he'd finally found something in Ghostbusting, but he wasn't even very good at that! Not the way the others were. He wasn't good at the technical side, like Roland, or the physical side, like Garrett (how embarrasing! Constantly outdone in the physical prowess department by a guy in a wheelchair!), or the knowledge aspect like Kylie & Egon. Even Janine, the SECRETARY, outdid him in THAT department! So what was he?  
He knew what the others saw him as. A goofbal. Lazy. Stupid. A scrawny wimp. A coward. No wonder Kylie wouldn't have anything to do with him! What did he have to offer?  
He was meeting the gang later for a study session. He dreaded these. Yet another opportunity to prove to them that he was even dumber than they thought. What's more, he just couldn't seem to keep his foot out of his mouth! Why couldn't he be nice to Kylie, when he liked her so much? Or to Roland & Garrett & even Egon, when he was around her? The longer he spent around her, the ruder he seemed to get!  
He resolved to keep his mouth shut this session...  
***  
Louis Garou ran right into a pretty girl when he was on his way out of an alley. He didn't stop to apologize or appreciate her beauty; he just grabbed his bag, picked himself up off the ground, and ran some more.  
Kylie Griffin watched his retreating form, and itched to try a spell she'd found in one of Egon's books. An it harm none, she reminded herself. She grabbed her own black bag, used the wall to pick herslef up, dusted herself off, and made her way to class.  
Someone else watched her leave, the silver tip of his cane glinting from the shadows. He smiled.  
"So much easier to catch them when they're not running." 


	2. Night 1: the Afternoon

They all met at the firehouse later that afternoon. Janine brought them milk & cookies. Roland, Eduardo, Kylie, & even Egon all scrambled to grab a cookie before Garrett & Slimer got ahold of them. Roland put in some Mozart on the cd player while Garrett & Slimer fought over the last cookie. Eduardo had a look of disgust on his face, but whether it was over the music or the flying slime, Kylie wasn't sure.  
She smiled at her friends' antics as she reached into her bag to get her textbooks. Her smile fell abruptly when she discovered they weren't there. Or rather, when she discovered the bag wasn't hers. She let out a cry of dismay.  
"What, did you forget forget your brain at home?"  
Kylie shot Eduardo a deadly look.  
"Eduardo." Egon's voice was a firm warning. Then gentler, to his protege', "What's the matter, Kylie?"  
"This isn't my bag!"  
"What?" Garrett, distracted, lost the battle for the last cookie. He growled at the ghost, & Slimer ran off-- into the kitchen, of course.  
"Someone ran into me today, some guy... He must have it."  
Eduardo sat up straight. "Some guy took your bag?! Did you see what he looked like?!"  
"No, no, it's not like that... He was just coming out of an alley as I was walking down the street & he ran right into me.  
We both fell & dropped our things. He must have grabbed my bag by mistake & THIS one," she held it up, "is actually his."  
Eduardo grabbed the bag from her. "Let me see that!"  
"Eduardo!"  
"There must be an ID in--" He stopped, his face gone pale. "Whoa."  
"What is it?" Roland stepped over & peeked into the bag. Garrett, curious as to what could cause his buddy Eddy to be struck speechless, wheeled up on his other side. Egon & Janine stood behind him. Everyone was transfixed by whatever the pack contained. Kylie wanted to snag it back, but a sense of foreboding held her in place.  
Slowly Eduardo pulled the object out of the bag. It was a tooth-- a very large one, maybe 5 inches. There was an amethyst embedded in it. The tooth was held by a silver setting, strung on a broken silver chain.  
"Wow, Kylie, your new boyfriend's a big game hunter!" Eduardo tested the point of the tooth with the tip of a finger. "OWWww!" It was surprisingly sharp. A drop of blood welled up. He stared at it blankly.  
"Oh, be careful!" Janine, mother hen that she was, grabbed his wrist & wrapped a tissue around his finger. Egon took the tooth from Eduardo.  
"Interesting," their mentor murmured.  
Garret ignored him, seeing an opportunity ripe for the picking. "Awww, did widdle Eddy get bitten by the big bad tooth fairy?"  
Kylie scowled at Garrett. "What is it, Egon?"  
He didn't answer. Instead Egon took the tooth over to his desk & searched through the mess there. A moment later he found his PKE meter. He held the tooth up to it & turned it on. Immediately it started beeping at a high pitch.  
"Just as I thought."  
"What?" Roland asked, stepping over to take a look at the little screen. He gasped.  
"A Class 5!"  
"Whu?" Garrett wheeled over to them. "A Class 5 what?"  
"It's a cursed talisman," Egon elaborated.  
Eduardo felt a chill go up his spine. "C-cursed?!?" His voice came out in a squeak. He hoped no one noticed.  
"It's okay, Eddy, Kylie'll lift the curse for ya!" Garrett winked at Kylie. "Or maybe not..." He grinned.  
Kylie desperately hoped she wasn't blushing. Why would SHE be the one to lift it? Did they know she was a witch? Sure, she had done spells before, but then so had Egon. Was she reading too much into this?  
"What do you mean by cursed, Egon?" Roland's question brought Kylie back to the matter at hand. "How did you even know to check?"  
"I was just reading about it." Egon gestured towards the open book on his desk. On one page was a large colour sketch of the tooth. On the other was some text, with "The Curse of the Garou" in big fancy script at the top.  
"Do-do-do-do-Do-do-do-do..." Garrett intoned.  
As much as his joking often annoyed her, Kylie couldn't help but appreciate the sentiment. This was just too odd of a coincidence. They had to have come across this talisman for a reason.  
"So what, am I gonna die now?" Eduardo asked, trying to laugh & hide the nervousness in his voice.  
"No, no, the curse has something to do with lycanthropy."  
"Oh, well then," Eduardo rolled his eyes & threw up his hands, "that's all right..." He got up and stalked into the kitchen.  
"Where are you goin'?" Garrett called after him.  
"A wolf's gotta eat! Or else I'll end up eating one of you!" His voice carried to them from the other room. His head followed a moment later, poking from around the doorway. "Kylie would barely make an appetizer, but you've been fattening yourself up quite nicely..."  
"HEY!!" yelled Garrett & Kylie.  
"Eduardo!!" chorused the others.  
It was a harsh thing to have said, even for Eduardo. He sneered at them and disappeared back into the kitchen. A moment later Slimer came schreeching out of the kitchen. He flew right into Janine's arms & shuddered there. Roland moved to give Eduardo what-for.  
"No, Roland." Kylie stood & grabbed his arm. "He's just upset. Leave him be & let him cool off." She didn't know why she said that. She wanted to strangle the grunge-boy herself.  
"Huh. I'm just amazed he knew that 'lycathropy' was a fancy term for werewolf..." Garrett muttered, obviously wanting to hurl that barb in Eduardo's face.  
Egon seemed to consider the situation himself for a moment, then shrugged.  
"I need to research this more. That book there," he pointed to it, "doesn't say much, other than that the talisman is tied to the Garou family, known lycanthropes. You might as well get to your studies for now..."  
"Kind of hard to do without books", Kylie grumbled.  
***  
Eduardo took his time getting a sandwich together in the kitchen. He felt bad about what he'd said, & wanted to apologize, but then he thought about how they all had treated him & got angry all over again. It was when he was nervous or angry that he really ran at the mouth; if he went out there still feeling the way he did, he might say something else he would regret.  
So much for his resolution to keep quiet.  
Still... why was it okay for Garrett to tease him, but not for him to tease Garrett? It wasn't fair...  
***  
"You should be happy!"  
Harold Hunter ran the silver head of his cane along the bars, driving the poor canines inside mad.  
"I've brought your brother Louis back to you!" At that one of the beasts threw itself against the bars, snapping. "Now, Louis, aren't you glad to be back with your packmates? And soon you'll have even more of them, when I find that girl you ran into... It's a bit annoying that you had to go and 'accidentally' switch bags with her & loose the talisman, but this might work out for the better... Yes, Fate works in mysterious ways, but don't for an instant think She was helping you out, Loius. Fate was leading me to a new prey, not hiding your family heirloom for you. Trust me, I'll find that pretty little witch, I've never failed a hunt yet..."  
***  
After a long while, Eduardo got himself together and came out of the kitchen. The others all had their noses buried in books, Egon & Janine at the desk & the younger Ghostbusters around the coffee table. Kylie was using Roland's physics book, since they had that class together. Eduardo got his own books out and lay his history book near her; that was the class they shared. She didn't seem to notice. He sighed softly & tried to loose himself in algebra. He got lost, all right-- he never idid/I understand it. But this time he felt too awkward to ask questions.  
"Hey Eddy, what did you get for problem 30?" Garrett was in his algebra class. This was his way of saying it was ok, & that he was sorry.  
"Whu?-- Oh, ah, I dunno, man, I haven't gotten that far."  
"Oh." The awkwardness had gotten so thick you could cut it with a proton beam.  
Eduardo tried to start his homework. As he started to write, though, he found that the finger he'd pricked really hurt. He sucked on it, trying to relieve the pain.  
"You ok?" Kylie's face was full of concern. Was she no longer mad at him?  
"Uh, yeah, just hurts a little... Did you find out who that bag belongs to?" Kylie's eyes widened. "Oh! Y'know, I didn't even..." She picked it up & started rummaging through it.  
Didn't even finish looking after I caused such a scene, Eduardo finished.  
Her brow furrowed. "There's no ID, nothing with the guy's name on it! Just some clothes!"  
"What, was he on his way to a sleepover? Hey, check his underwear, maybe he wrote his name on it!"  
Garret sniggered.  
Roland ignored Eduardo's attempt at levity. "Well, you had your ID in yours, right?" Kylie nodded. "Well then, I'm sure this guy'll look you up so he can get his own stuff back."  
Eduardo didn't like that choice of words, that the guy would "look" Kylie "up". It made him uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah, he's gonna be real anxious to get back a cursed tooth & some ugly clothes. He probably stole the other bag in the first place, & thinks Kylie's stuff is better." At Kylie's stricken look, he ammended, "Then again, how many people have that kind of taste?" She kicked him under the table. "Owww! I didn't mean it in a bad way!"  
Egon, having been listening while he was researching (ever the observant scientist, Janine noted), offered "He may not even know what he had."  
"But wouldn't he have been cursed by the object? Hard to imagine being cursed with lycanthropy & not noticing..."  
"Oh, I dont think it would be that difficult," Kylie said sweetly, giving Eduardo's goatee a playful tug. He knew he should have protested, but he kind of enjoyed the contact...  
"Maybe, Maybe not," Egon replied. "We don't know how the curse works yet. Let's hope it's not a simle matter of possesion, or we could ALL be in trouble."  
Janine looked up from her own book at that remark. "Oh, Egon! Can't the curse be lifted?" The others exchanged anxious glances.  
"I don't know." Egon went back to reading.  
The others tried to go back to studying. No one managed to learn anything new that night.  
*** 


	3. Night 2: Lunchtime

The younger Ghostbusters were all sitting together in a shady spot on the campus, having lunch. It was Eduardo's turn to choose the music, so he cranked up his favorite "alternative" station. Garret enjoyed it, & he believed Kylie did too, although she would never admit that she liked something he did. Roland looked like he expected his ears to start bleeding any second. The poor boy seemed quite relieved when a newscaster cut short Offspring.  
We interrupt this broadcast for a special news bulletin. Central Park has been closed to the public, due to a police investigation. Details are scarce, but it has been confirmed that there are several missing person reports for that vicinity, as well as numerous reports of vicious dog attacks. No news as to whether these reports are related."  
"Excuse me."  
The gang gave a collective jump of surprise. No one had even seen the man walk up!  
"Are you Kylie Griffin?"  
Kylie stood up & nodded, her eyebrow arched in question.  
"My name is Harold Hunter. I believe this is yours." He held her backpack out to her.  
"Oh! Thank the gods! I was afraid I'd never get this back!" She picked up the other bag off the ground & handed it to him. This saved her the trouble of going to the "Lost & Found", but how had he ever found her, just sitting outside like this? Once again she felt the hand of fate... "There was no ID or anything..." she explained, somehow feeling bad for not making the effort he apparently had.  
"No, I keep my wallet in my coat pocket."  
She took a good look at the young man before her. He was a little older than her, a Senior to her Sophomore, maybe, or even graduate school. He was very classy, his hair slicked back, clean shaven. He was dressed head to foot in black with a crips white shirt beneath his sportscoat. He held a black bowler in one hand and a silver-headed black cane in the other. The last think she noticed was his smooth voice as it occured to her that he'd been speaking.  
"...gise for running into you like that. You see, I was on my way to a very important appointment, and I was in quite a tizzy!."  
"TIZZY?" Eduardo murmured to Garrett. Who says 'tizzy'?"  
"Apparently he does, " Garrett sniggered back.  
If Harold noticed, he didn't show it. "I hope you're all right?"  
Kylie nodded numbly. This was the guy who'd run into her yesterday? She'd been furious then, but now... She couldn't even begin to believe that such a gentleman could be the same person! Or carry that kind of bag, for that matter...  
"Please let me make it up to you, my dear. How about dinner tonight, say 7:30?"  
There was something about the way he said "Say yes" that made the hair on the back of Eduardo's neck stand on end. It sounded like a command, not a request. Kylie nodded again. She seemed mesmerized by this guy!  
"Ky, I thought we were going to study for midterms..." He stepped between her & "Harry", breaking their eye contact. Kylie blinked as if waking up. Then she focused on Eduardo, eyes narrowed.  
"I can study with you guys for a little while and then go out. It's not like I need to study that much!" Eduardo sidestepped a little, stung.  
Kylie smiled back at Harold. "Meet me at the Ghostbusters' firehouse. I know a great little pizza place down the street from there..."  
"Ghostbusters? My, that sounds facinating! I can't wait to hear all about it!" Eduardo didn't like the look in Harry's eyes. He felt his lip curl. Harry payed him no mind. "Until tonight, my dear." He kissed her hand. He nodded to Roland and Garrett. "Gentlemen." He turned and walked off.  
"Down, boy," Garrett whispered to Eduardo.  
Kylie continued to stare in the direction Harold had taken long after the man had disappeared from view. Her eyes held a vacant look. Eduardo watched her, torn between the desire to shake her to her senses and chase after that guy, sink his teeth into his neck and--  
What? Eduardo shuddered. Where had a thought like that come from? He cranked up Soundgarten and tried to loose himself in "Black Hole Sun."  
***  
As soon as Harold felt he was out of view, he opened the bag. And dumped the contents on the ground. And scrambled through them, throwing things about. And finally let out a cry of frustration.  
"Louis!!! Where did you hide it?!?"  
A ways off across the campus, Kylie realized with a start that she hadn't gotten the talisman back from Egon. Ah well, she would just have to ask him for it before she saw Harold that night...  
***  
Later that afternoon, she did just that.  
"No, absolutely not."  
"...What?" Kylie was completely thrown. She'd asked Egon for the necklace back so she could return it to its rightful owner! What was the problem?  
"I said no. Either he knows what it is, in which case I'm not about to risk it falling into the wrong hands, or he doesn't know, and we're protecting an innocent man."  
"But.. but it belongs--"  
"To the Garou family. And I dont think even they would want it back. We still don't know what this thing can do, Kylie, nor what this Harold fellow had planned for it."  
"I dont think Harold is dangerous..." She sighed, giving up. "All right, we'll hold onto it until we know more. But what'll I tell Harold if he asks about it?"  
Egon shrugged. "Pretend you don't know what he's talking about."  
Kylie went pale. "You want me to lie?"  
"Ooooo, not a good way to start out a relationship, chica..." Eduardo swallowed and took a step back when Kylie hit him with a menacing glare.  
Egon ignored the exchange. "Kylie, we don't know anything about him. Are you wiling to risk the fate of the world over this?"  
"Oh boy, here we go again," Garrett rolled his eyes. "'Fate of the world' is becoming as common a phrase around here as 'Maybe he's dead'." He smiled sweetly at Eduardo.  
Eduardo growled back at him.  
Egon's voice softened. "Get to know him. Try to determine his interest, if any, in the talisman. If it turns out to be harmless after all, you can give it back to him & say it must have fallen out or something."  
She wasnt happy about it, but she knew Egon was right. She & the others settled down to study until her date arrived.  
***  
Harold hit Loius through the bars with his cane. "Where did you hide it?" he screamed at the canine. He struck again, connecting with Loius's skull this time. The animal went down with a yelp, then was silent. Harold was shaking with fury as he slid down the bars, his back to the beasts. He wasn't worried about them hurting him through the bars, not in the slightest. The rest of the pack huddled against the opposite wall, trying to get as far away as possible.  
He could feel their aura, feel the pattern of wolf and human energy dancing together. It was this sixth sense that told him Kylie was high in metaphysical energy, that she was psychic and practiced magic-- that she was a witch. He remembered the taste of her aura, savored it, studying it's every nuance-- and realized something.  
He turned to the wolves and started to laugh, slowly at first, then growing in his maniacleness.  
"She has it! She's a Ghostbuster, she probably even knows what it is! I know she has to have it-- I felt one of your kind near when I was with her. I didn't even notice at the time, I'm so used to being around you. No matter. Soon she will be added to my trophies, along with the talisman-- and that NEW werewolf!"  
*** 


	4. Night 2: Dinner

"What was the 'Magna Carta'?"  
"The world's largest shopping cart?"  
"...Can you be serious for even one minute? I'm trying to help you, Eduardo. Don't waste my time."  
"Oh, that's right, wouldn't want you to be late for your date..."  
Kylie slamed her book shut. "That's right. And why shouldn't I prefer to spend my time with someone who can hold an intelligent conversation?" She smiled sweetly, batting her eyes.  
"Allll right, so maybe I'm not Mr. Billion Brain Cells, maybe I'm not Mr. SophistiCATTY, but at least I'm not Mr. Wouldn't Know a Good Time If I Had a Symbiotic Relationship With It either!"  
Garrett said what they were all thinking. "You know what symbiotic means?"  
"Eduardo," Kylie began. her voice cold & distant, "do you remember a conversation we had a while back about what we wanted out of life, and I sai I wanted to travel around the world with a handsome, intelligent man? Can you guess, between you & Harold, which I would choose to make that trip with?"  
"F-fine!" Eduardo sputtered. "Ex-CUSE me for worrying about you! Pardon me, chica, for not trusting guy who carries around cursed objects! And who said I would want to make that trip with YOU, anyw--"  
"Kylie!" Janine's shout came from downstairs. "There's a Mr. Harold Hunter here to see you!"  
Kylie's eye's darted between Eduardo and the stairs. "I... I... I'm coming!" The boys all wondered what she had really been about to say, as she quicly gathered her things and ran down the stairs. She kept her head down so they wouldn't see her tears.  
Garrett also wondered something else, which he asked his friend once the girl was gone. "Hey Eddy! We never did get to hear what you wanted that night..."  
To be with her, came the answer in his mind, without hesitation. Aloud, he replied, "To get a decent night's sleep, which is what I'm gonna go get right now!" He yawned & stretched. "Later, amigos."  
He hoped they didn't hear the tremor in his voice or see it in his hands as he gathered his things. His head swam a little, and he felt a bit nauseated. He'd been feeling a little off all day. He wondered if it was because he was getting sick or because of the situation with Kylie & this Harry guy. In any case, sleep really did seem like a good idea, now that he'd mentioned it.  
***  
Harold waited untill they were outside before asking Kylie if there was anything wrong. He handed her his handkerchief, laiying a comforting arm around her shoulders as he did so.  
"Uh.. it's just allergies, I'm fine." Kylie cast a final, sad glance at the firehouse, just in time to see Eduardo leaving, clearly upset himself. Serves him right, she thought. The whole scenario left a sick feeling in her stomach. She didn't think she would be able to eat...  
***  
Eduardo was so upset he didn't think he'd be able to sleep at all. He was wrong; he was unconcious before his head hit the pillow. And then his nightmare began.  
***  
Harold didn't ask about the necklace over dinner. Instead he asked Kylie to tell him about ghostbusting. She found herself pouring out story after story, slowing only when she talked of Eduardo. Which was actually fairly often. She never really thoght before about how much they'd been through together, how often he'd saved her...  
Noticing the faraway look she got in her eyes whenever she talked about her nuisance of a friend, Harold steered the convesation away form her adventures & onto her paranormal knowledge. He was both surprised and pleased by the extent of her repitoire; even in that short amount of time, he learned much that even an expert like himself didn't know.  
Yes, it was quite a stroke of fortune that had led him to her... He was going to have do something to dull her attatchement to the young punk, though, what was his name? Edward?  
When Kylie left the table a moment to "powder her nose", he took that opportunity to slip something into he drink. When she returned, he offered a toast to the Ghostbusters and their efforts for the protection of New York.  
After it Kylie made a face and asked, "Does your soda taste like diet too?" 


	5. Night 2: Late Night

"There it is!" Egon's shout startled Janine awake. She had fallen asleep with her chair tipped back, & the sudden movement caused her to fall crashing backwards. Egon rushed to her side and helped her up. When he had her standing, he brushed her off, apologizing softly. They looked up at the same time, into eachother's eyes. A strand of her auburn hair had fallen into Janine's face. Egon gently brushed it back, his fingers lingering on her cheek. The light of the desk lamp played across her features, making her bright eyes & soft lips sparkle, her hair shine. She reached up & lightly traced the stubble along his jaw with her fingers. The glare from the computer screen reflecting off his glasses hid his eyes from her, so she took them off and laid them on the desk. He smiled gently & did the same for her. She was so close that he could still see her almost perfectly, but his vision was blurred just enough to give her an angelic quality. He leaned in to kiss his angel.  
They didn't allow themselves this luxury too often. Both were so dedicated to their organization, it didn't leave much time for a personal life. They had tried to make it work several times, but other sciences always got in the way of their chemistry. And now, with the young Ghostbusters under their wing, they were like parents looking after their brood. Parents with four teens... No, it was better to take each moment one at a time, and follow wherever it led, for as long as it lasted...p  
This time it lasted about 15 seconds, & led to a dead end.  
"Whoops! Sorry!" Roland immediatley turned around, walking right into Garrett, who was trying to get off the lift.p  
"Het, what's goin on up here?" He tried to get aroud Roland, not wanting to be on the lift an instant more than he had to be. "Ewwww, were they doing what I think they were? It's like walking in on your parents, man..." he murmured to his friend, but Egon & Janine still heard him. They stepped apart, blushing.  
"We, uh, h-heard a shout, and a.. crash.. & came to see... i-if everything was all right..." Roland explained over his shoulder, still not wanting to turn around. Garrett tugged on the back of his shirt, coaxing him off the elevator.  
"It's, ah, it's okay, just.. just a little accident." Janine started straightening papers while Egon spoke. "Actually, I'm glad you're both up here. I've found something." He put his glasses back on & gestured towards a large, open tome on his desk. Roland & Garret came over to look at it.  
"Well, it turns out the Garou family didn't see the talisman as cursed. Or rather, they didn't view lycanthropy as a curse. The talisman is a tooth from the first Garou, the clan martiarch. She was born with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf whenever she pleased, the catch being that she had to change when the moon was full. She used this ability to hunt for food for her tribe. This was waaaay back in the late B.C.s, in Gaul, when women were often allowed to be warriors. Someone with powers like hers was highly honored. She discovered at one point that she could offer this gift to people outside of her descendants if she bit them when the moon was full & she was wearing something silver. She chose those who would recieve the gift very carefully, but others sought to steal the gift from her. When she finally was killed in battle, her kin burned her body to keep the enemy from using it, but the man who'd killed her managed to knock a tooth out during the fight & kept it. He discovered that, if he simply wore the tooth, he could shapeshift too-- but only while wearing it. The talisman was passed down among his descendants, & it was they who called the item cursed, to dissuade others from ever taking it. They also hunted down the surving members of the Garou famiy, but it turned out that their bodies did not transfer the power like the martriarch's did. The Hunters, as they became known, turned to hunting other magical beings for sport, hunting each in turn to extinction. They even hunted witches during the inquisition."  
"Hunter... why is that name familiar?" Garrett's brow creased in thought.  
Roland snapped his fingers, his eyes open wide, "Harold Hunter! The guy Kylie... went .. out with tonight. Uh-oh..."  
Egon nodded. "That's right. You can guess what he wants with her."  
"Well, it's not what I thought he'd wanted, so actually, I feel better now," Garrett quipped. "Besides, if he hunts paranormal critters like we do, maybe we should get him to join the team!"  
Egon shook his head. "He doesn't just hunt werewolves, Garret, he hunts witches, remember? Kylie could be in great danger!"  
Garrett scowled at his mentor, letting out a snort. "What, Kylie can hold her own against any old werewolf or witch! I'm sure they'll have a blast hunting them together! If he want's to hunt 'em, I say more power to him!"  
Roland spoke to Garrett patiently, as if he were a child whgo didn't know any better, but you could tell he was irritated with his friend's attitude. "Garrett, what makes you think it's the werewolves & witches that are the problem?"  
"Oh, gee, I dunno, maybe it's because they both have a history of eating people!"  
"No they don't. Witches that eat people are just fairy-tales, and as for wolves, there has never been any proof of a healthy wolf ever attacking someone in North America! Wolves are afraid of humans. They're even actually very similar to us-- they have families & social structures. In anchient days, shamans, the religios leaders of the tribal peoples, were said to be able to take on animal forms, most commonly wolves. It was a highly prized and respected ability!  
He could tell Garrett didn't believe him. They both looked to Egon for confirmation, who nodded for Roland to continue. Roland, appreciating the encouragement, went on, "As for witches, they were a type of shaman, the healers, midwives, & wisemen of Europe. Those who practice 'witchcraft' today are simply reliving the anchient customs of honoring nature & the turn of the seasons. They even have a law they call the Wiccan Rede, 'An it harm none, do what thou wilt,' which essentially states that you can live your life as you please so long as your harm no one & nothing-- including yourself-- to do it."  
"Waitaminute, waitaminute.... 'Wiccan' Rede? As in Wicca? I know a girl who's into that, she's in one of my classes, really sweet. You're telling me she's a witch?!"  
"Garret," Roland tried hard to keep the edge out of his voice, & also tried not to sound too patronizing, "the word 'witch' comes from the word 'wicca', or 'wicce,' an anglo-saxon word meaning either 'wise' or 'to bend', or both, depending on the resource. So yes, a wiccan IS a witch... Now, do you think that friend of yours is evil?"  
"Well... no."  
"Is Kylie evil?" Egon jumped in.  
"No! Of course not! But what does she have to do with it?"  
Roland turned to Egon, too, Garret's question mirrored in his face.  
Egon wouldn't answer at first, seeming to wrestle with some inner conflict. It's not my place to tell them-- Kylie never even told me, I just know about these things. But they need to understand what's going on if we're going to protect her. And I'm sure they'll understand; Roland already is accepting of the concept... Quietly, Egon informed them, "Kylie is a witch."  
***  
Kylie was in a daze. She'd forgotten all about her exams for the next day, all about her fight with Eduardo that night. All about the news report that had been on the radio that afternoon, warning people to stay out of Central Park. She thought nothing of it when Harold led her under the crime scene tape that surrounded it.  
They walked in silence for while, arm in arm, the full moon lighting the way.  
"Kylie," Harold finally began, his voice smooth as silk, "I think it's fate that we met."  
She nodded. She knew it had to be.  
He halted under a lampost. They faced eachother. He hald her chin in his hand, drawing her close for a kiss.  
The bite stopped him just before their lips touched. Nerve endings in his hind end sent a mix of hot pain and icyness as the breeze played through the new hole in the seat of his pants. He spun around to face his assailant.  
Kylie stepped sideways so she could see what had caused Harold to scream. She expected to see a mugger. Instead she found a very large, very grungy, very mean-looking dog. Very, very large. If she didn't know better, she'd say that a wolf had escaped from the zoo. Except that it was too big to be one of those! The dog (or whatever it was) was growling softly, its ears back & head low, a scrap of fabric hanging from its ferocious maw. One ear flicked, & she saw there was a gold hoop earring in it. There was something familiar about this dog...  
***  
Janine tried callind Eduardo's house again. Still no answer. Roland, Garrett, & Egon had gone in the Ecto-1 to hunt for Kylie. They suited up quickly, waiting only that long for Janine to get a hld of him. Was he so tired he couldn't hear the phone? Probably. Or maybe he wasn't home at all...  
***  
Kylie wished she had her proton pack. Harold was fending the beast off with his cane, but the animal had managed to get a few bites in. She knew she should go get help, but she didn't want to leave Harold. Besides, she was afraid that, if she ran, the dog would give chase. Not to mention that her was so foggy that she wasn't sure she could run very fast. Through the fog though suddenly came the sound of sirens. It was the guys! How had they known?  
In moments they had the mutt surrounded and were firing on the ground around it. It howled in fear and confusion, a sound that was almost human. Despite the fact that it was just using Harold for a chew toy, Kylie felt a pang of pity for the poor critter. Since it was a living being, she knew the guys wouldn't actually hit it with their proton beams. The dog seemed to know that too, as it suddenly ran straight toward them, escaping between Roland and Egon into the darkness.  
Harold was panting, his eyes wild. "Th-thank-you! I don't know what we would have done if--" He stopped in midspeech when he found the proton guns trained on him.  
Kylie stepped infront of him. "What are you doing?!"  
"I found out more about the talisman, Kylie. It seems our little 'friend' here is a descendant of it's creator." Egons eyes and aim never wavered from Harold.  
Kylie & Harold both spoke at once.  
"W-what? Egon, what are you saying?"  
"The talisman! You found it? Please, I must have it back!" He held out his hands imploringly.  
Egons eyes narrowed. "I don't think so, Hunter."  
Harold raised his hands slowly into the air. "Well, it seems you have me at a disadvantage. Might I be permitted to tell my side of the story?"  
"This is crazy!" Kylie tossed her gaze back & forth between the four men. "Egon, he's hurt! We should take him to a hospital, & then fill out a police report about that dog!"  
"No!" Egon & Hunter said simultaneously. Harold elaborated. "It's really not all that bad, my dear. Besides, you're group is far better equipped to deal with a werewolf than the police are. Shall we retire to your firehouse, gentlemen?"  
Werewolf?! Kylie thought. Does that mean Harold will be one now? But the moon was still out & he wasn't changing... Maybe it was a good idea that they go back to the firehouse, so that she could look up werewolves in the books and make sure he wasn't affected.  
Egon nodded in affirmative to Hunter, gesturing that he should get into the car.  
"Would someone kindly tell me what's going on?" Kylie asked as they all climbed in. Egon told what he knew while Roland drove, Garret keeping his proton gun trained on Hunter the whole trip. Hunter stayed oddly calm & quiet. 


	6. Night 3: Morning?

Eduardo woke up in the wee early hours of the morning, feeling achy & feverish.  
"Mmm, what a day to get the flu, man... I got midterms today... And what was with that weird dream? The Kylie Nightmare Syndrome is getting out of hand..." He crawled out of bed & discovered that he was naked, his clothes in a pile on the floor. "That's funny, I don't remember getting undressed..."  
His train of thought was derailed when he noticed that the message light on his answering machine was flashing. It was Janine. And Janine again. And Janine a third time, and a fourth. Something about the talisman and Harry and Kylie. Kylie was in trouble! He went nauseous with fear (well, more so than he'd started out); those messages had been from hours ago!  
He threw some clothes together that he thought were clean. Good thing he'd taken a shower when he'd gotten home the night before! Hailing a cab, he made it to the firehouse in just a few minutes.  
Once there he scrambled up the stairs, shouting, "Egon! Janine! Roland! Garrett! Is anyone here? Slimer?!"  
"E'war'o!" Slimer cried as he flew to greet the Ghostbuster, getting slime all over Eduardo's clean (?) clothes.  
Eduardo was in such a frenzy that he didn't even get mad. "Where is everyone, slimeball, where's Kylie-"  
"Right here." Kylie was standing in the kitchen doorway, everyone else filing past her to greet him. He noticed vaguely that she was still in the same clothes she'd worn yesterday. So was everyone else, for that matter, including the dapper Harry, who wasn't looking so dapper this morning. The man looked like he'd been through a paper shredder. Eduardo felt an odd surge of satisfaction, just barely managing to keep the smirk off his face.  
"Sooooo... You're all right then?" He asked Kylie, giving them all a questioning look. "I got your message, Jani-"  
"Yeah, several hours late! Where were you?" Janine tapped her foot on the ground, like a mother who's son stayed out past curfew.  
"I-I..." Why was he in trouble here? "I have the flu or something. I was out cold all night..."  
Anger was quickly traded for concern. She walked over and felt his forehead. "Oh, you're burning up! Come here & sit down! I'll make you some soup!" She led him over to the couch & got him settled, the other's sitting around him. Within moments, there was a lot of clatter coming from the kitchen.  
Well, she couldn't mess up soup too badly... He turned his attention to the group aroung him. "Maybe it's just the fever talking, but the world seems a little surreal this morning... Would anyone mind filling me in?"  
He could see Kylie, sitting next to him, out of the corner of his eye. He was relieved she was safe, weak with it, more so than he illness left him, he was sure. Did he see concern in her eyes? He was half afraid to look at her fully to find out, after the fight they'd had the night before...  
Egon brought Eduardo's attention back to the issue at hand, bringing him up to date on what they'd learned. He could feel his lip curling when he told him about the Hunters.  
Kylie had already heard this story, so she paid it little attention. Instead,she looked at Eduardo with wonder. Even after what she'd said to him the night before, he rushed right over to make sure she was okay! While he was sick, no less! She was very flattered!  
She hoped no one could see her blushing...  
Harold squeezed her hand. Startled, she turned to look at him. Eduardo saw this exchange,as well as the blush on her cheeks.  
Huh! And here I was worrying about her, when she's been consorting with the enemy! He looked away in disgust. Kylie though the look on his face was over the soup Janine had given him.  
"...only we've learned things aren't quite what we thought from Harold here," Egon finished, looking to Harold for him to tell his side.  
Harold smiled & gave Kylie's hand another reassuring squeeze before getting into the discussion. "The talisman is a family heirloom, it's true, but it was lost a couple of centuries ago. I saw it up for auction when I went to an estate sale. I knew it was fate, an unmissable opportunity to destroy the evil thing once and for all!" He had a look on his face like he'd just stepped in something foul. "I was on my way to do just that when I ran into Kylie here." He looked into her eyes, holding her hand like he was drowning & she was a life preserver. "At least some good has come from the wicked thing's creation."  
The hair on Eduardo's neck stood on end. There was something about the way Harry looked at Kylie, the way he held on to her & spoke to her. The way she hung on his every word. She never hangs all over me like that... Of course, she didn't consider him a potential boyfriend, either.   
"Well, it's all over & done with now," said Egon. "I destroyed the talisman myself before we left to find Kylie last night."  
If Harry's ice-cold composure faltered ever so slightly, if his eyes narrowed, just for a moment, no one noticed. He smiled. "Good. I'm glad it's gone. But I'm afraid it isn't over."  
There was a collected murmur of "Huh?" & "What do you mean?"  
"Well, there's still a werewolf at large."  
"Ooooh, yeah, what are we gonna do about the big, bad werewolf, Egon?"  
"Garrett, I told you, just because it's a werewolf doesn't mean it's evi-" Roland began.  
"I beg to differ, my good man. Family history aside, this werewolf has attacked several people. It must be stopped."  
Harry's words formed a ball of cold fear in the pit of Eduardo's stomach. He thought about the dream he'd had the night before. "What if... What if he can't help it? I mean, what if he's an innocent man under he spell of the talisman?"  
Harry leaned in. He let go of Kylie, & steepled his fingers together in front of him. His face was like stone, so that Eduardo couldn't tell if the man took remorse or pleasure in his next words, "Then I'm afraid yet another evil has been comitted in the name of the Garou family. As you can see, destroying the talisman did not end the curse, for the werewolf still attacked us last night. There is no cure. The poor soul, if he is indeed innocent, will go on attacking every full moon, for the nights bfeore, of & after-- three days in all, each month. Tonight will be my last chance to stop him until next month."  
"Your last chance?" Garrett asked.  
Harry smiled tightly. "Yes. I know how to handle this, let me take care of it. There are plenty of unhappy dead in this city for you to occupy yourselves with."  
"But..." Kylie began, all concern directed towards Harold, "but you've never hunted any of them... have you?"  
"Yes my dear, in fact I have, many of them my own relatives, as well as several members of the Garou clan." He laid a hand on her cheek. "Do not worry, my dear. I was caught off guard last night; I thought I had gotten them all. Apparently I missed one. I'll take care of it, and then my time will be my own & we can have many long talks about the paranormal."  
He stood. "For now, I must get ready for tonight." He put on his hat, tipped it, kissed Kylie's hand & then Janine's, and walked down the stairs. No one escorted him out. They all waited until they heard the door shut before speaking.  
"You didn't really destroy it, did you Egon?"  
"No, Kylie, I didn't. He's not a Garou, it doesn't belong to him. And in case any of us is cursed, I'm not going to destroy or give away what might be our only means of finding a cure."  
Kylie knew the sense in what Egon was saying, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed.  
"Egon, is there any way we can adjust the proton beams to stun & hold the werewolf without harming it?" Roland was desperate to find a way to save what he felt was a misunderstood victim.  
"Oh, sure, Ro, and then what?" Garrett interceded. "Put it in a zoo?"  
Egon ignored Garrett. "Roland, work on it. I'm sure if you lower the settings and adjust the..." He went into a long stream of technical jargon.  
Eduardo began to nod off. In moments he was lightly snoring. Kylie & Janine stretched him out along the length of the couch.  
"Poor guy..." Garrett said quietly in a rare moment of sympathy. Janine nodded in agreement, not knowing he meant how Eduardo must have felt seeing Kylie all over Harry.  
Kylie laid a blanket over Eduardo. She felt his forehead; he was still very feverish. She caressed his cheek. He stirred, but did not awaken.  
He's so tough, so goofy, such a selfish jerk on the outside. Inside he's just a scared little boy, so vulnerable, I want to hold him, protect him. Yet, even beneath that, there's something deeper still inside him, a courage & strength. He's so beautiful when he lets it show...  
She looked around. The others were still clustered around Egon. She gave Eduardo a quick kiss on the temple before joining them.  
***   
"Soon, my friends, soon you'll have another playmate... the very last of your kind, in fact, thanks to me!" Harold's menacing smile softened. "Then what will there be for me to do? Now that the necklace is gone, I can't make more of you. I suppose I could breed you, release you & your young on some vast property & catch you over & over..." He sighed. "Well, there's still 'witch-hunting', but thats a whole different sort of 'hunt', now isn't it?"  
*** 


	7. Night 3: All Thru the Night

The young Ghostbusters skipped their classes that day. Luckily Egon was good friends with a couple of their teachers so he could smooth things over for them. Eduardo's reason was different than he rest of them, tho; rather than doing research or working on the proton guns, he slept all day. For once, no one gave him flack for it.  
By evening, Roland and Garrett were satisfied that they had modified the beams to safely contain a living creature. Roland installed a cage in the back of the Ecto-1. When it was time to go, they would have to help Garrett into the back seat & fold up his chair. He would take Eduardo's seat.  
Meanwhile, Kylie had found an entry on stopping lycanthropy . It stated that, unlike popular fiction depicted, silver did not harm a werewolf. Instead, it explained, contact with it locked them into their animal form, while contact with wolfsbane made them human. The two combined, however, such as a silver dagger laced with wolfsbane oil, would leave a wound that wouldn't fully heal and poison the beast. The result was the human and wolf sides warring to be in control, and, if the poor being survived the struggle, a nasty scar.  
Of course, the Ghostbusters wouldn't use such a thing, but Egon was afraid Hunter might.  
By late evening, they were ready to leave, Janine included. Eduardo was still out cold when they left...  
***   
Harold stood in the park, right where the werewolf had ambushed him. His own pack of wolves was milling about his legs. Each wore the silver collars he's put around their necks when he'd caught them. They all had a vacant look in their eyes.  
"Soon, my pets, soon it will be feeding time..."  
***  
Ohhhhh boy, here we go again with the strange dreams... Eduardo thought. Like the night before, he had awakened to find himself in the body of a canis lupis. He hadn't been alarmed the first time because he thought he was deaming. He wasn't so sure this time. Funny, I don't feel like eating anyone.  
He looked at the clock. 10:27 pm. The others were out werewolf hunting. The joker in him couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation-- them leaving to find what was right under their noses. He should have been relieved. If he was the werewolf, if he was here and they were gone, then both he and they were safe from each other.  
But he couldn't shake the bad vibes he'd gotten from Harry. There was something the man was hiding, and it wasn't in regards to the werewolf. Something about how he acted towards Kylie. Eduardo tried to tell himself it was just jealousy, but he couldn't shake the feeling she was in danger. He had to find her.  
He made his way down the stairs, finding it difficult to descend on all fours, but managing. The door out would be a bigger issue--  
Except that the garage door was open.  
Janine was usually the one to close it after they left in the Ecto-1. She must have gone with them, to take his place. It was rare that she helped with the actual ghostbusting, but she'd proven herself in the field before. They probably thought they could use all the help they could get...  
A few people actually gaped to see a wolf lope down the streets of New York, not knowing it was hot on the trail of the Ecto-1.  
***  
It wasn't long before the Ghostbusters came across Harold. He was just sitting on a park bench, alone.  
"I thought you were gonna go bag a big bad werewolf!" Garrett stated, somehow accusingly.  
"I am," the dapper gent replied calmy. "In my experience, stay in one place long enough and the prey will come to you."  
Kylie's intuition was going nuts. Part of her trusted Harold unquestioningly. Another, deeper part was screaming that something was desparately wrong. But which part should she listen to?  
Harold patted the seat next to him. "Sit, my dear. It would have been better if you'd stayed away, but I confess that I am happy you did come."  
Garrett kept looking around, like a shell-shocked soldier expecting to be hit any moment. "Aren't you afraid?!? That werewolf tore you to peices last time, and you still don't even have a weapon!"  
"Don't I, now? Appearances can be deceiving, my boy."  
There was a low growling from behind them. And in front of them. And to the left. To the right. Glowing eyes burst forth from he darkness, beyond the trees, followed by snarling wolves. They were surrounded!  
So caught up were they in the appearance of the pack that they ignored Harold entirely when he pulled out a rapier from within his cane.  
Garret started their usula signal to fire. "On three, everybo--"  
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Harold held the rapier to Kylie's throat.  
"Geez, what a glory-hound!" Garrett kept his eyes on the pack, ready to fire if one attacted, while wondering what to do about this new wrench Hunter added. What a fruitcake!  
***  
Eduardo figured the first place his fellow Ghostbusters would look for him... er, the werewolf, would be Central Park, where all the sightings had been, and where they had encountered him. He lost the Ecto-1's trail quickly, so that was where he headed. When he was just a block or two away, he heard the howling. More wolves?!? The gang was in worse trouble than he thought! He picked up his speed, running faster than he thought his four legs cold carry him, which was ten times faster than his human ones ever could. Soon he reached the park. It was just moments more when he reached the clearing he'd confronted Harry at before.  
And there he was.  
So were the rest of the Ghostbusters.  
Including Kylie, whom Harry had captive with a blade to her throat.  
The world went red.  
***  
Another wolf burst through the trees.  
"Hey, it's a slacker! Wolves got 'em too!" Garret shouted at the latecomer.  
Oh, if you only knew, compadre', Eduardo thought.   
The new wolf's sudden arrival set the other ones off. The original four attacked the Ghostbusters, who managed to trap them with their altered proton beams. The fith slipped past, heading for Hunter and Kylie as the team watched helplessly.  
Reluctant to leave his protege' alone with a madman and a wild animal, Egon shouted orders to the rest of the group. "Janine! Roland! Drive your wolves to the Ecto-1 and get them locked inside! Then hurry back and help Kylie!" He hoped two of the beasts would fit. He hoped he and Garrett packs didn't run out of juice before he figured out what to do with the other two. And he hoped Kylie would stay safe, her two assailants keeping eachother at bay.  
***  
Eduardo didn't know what to do. Every muscle in his body ached to leap and attack Harry, but he was afraid that if he did, Harry would slit Kylie's throat faster than he could reach them. He paced back & forth in front of the pair, head low, growling a warning, trying desparately to think of something he could do with his brain fogged by his wolf side.  
Harold removed his blade from Kylie's neck, shoving her forward. She just stood there.  
"I was wondering if you were ever going to show up, boy..." Then, to Kylie, "Hit him with your proton gun!"  
To Eduardo's horror, despite the fact that Harold had just taken Kylie's life into his hands just a moment ago, she hesitated only a moment before obeying. The wolf was already leaping at Hunter when he'd given the command, but was shot down by her proton beam and fell to the ground with a yelp.  
Harold got ready to take a swing at the wolf with his blade. The sword glistened like it was already wet when he arched it over his head.P  
***  
There's something familiar about that wolf, Kylie thought through the haziness in her mind. She noticed the gold earring in it's ear. iIt's the same wolf that attacked us before!/i But there was something more to it than that. As she stared at it, she could hear a voice, one that echoed in her memory.  
Excuuuse me for worrying about you!...  
She wasn't really sure why, but suddenly she felt very protective of the wolf, and very angry with Harry. She let go of the trigger, releasing the wolf from the beam, and shot Harry instead.p  
Only it didn't work.  
Harry was not stopped by the proton beam. The wolf rolled out of the way as Hunter completed his swing, it's shoulder getting grazed by the sword.p  
It howled in agony. It seemed to shimmer before her, and she swore she could see a man in it's face.  
"EDUARDO?!?"  
Harry moved to strike again. Kylie tried shooting him again, which did nothing but distract him. He laughed at her.  
Roland ran up beside her,PKE meter out. "He's a ghost!"  
"Well, it's about time one of you figured it out! Some Ghostbusters you turned out to be! Your little toys don't even have any effect on me! I hoped you'd be more sport than this!"  
Roland immediately set to work on altering the settings on his proton gun back to what they once were. Janine took over for Egon, holding his wolf at bay with her slightly-more-charged pack.  
"Don't worry," Egon told her before rushing off to help the others with Hunter. "I have a feeling that, once we defeat hunter, the wolves won't be a problem."  
He ran over to Roland and started adjusting his own pack. Kylie threw hers to Garrett, then ran over to help Eduardo. His body was melting back and forth between wolf and human. She held him tight, terrified for him. She had realized that the wetness on Hunter's blade had been wolfsbane oil, his rapier made of silver. Eduardo was dying.  
Please, Lord and Lady!, she begged. Please heal him! Please help me save him!  
Harold tried to re-establish his control over Kylie, but to no avail. Still, neither she nor her wolf-boy posed a threat to him at the moment. He focused his attention on the two that were.  
He struck at Roland first. Ro lifted his pack up and used it as a shield. Hunter's rapier went partially though it, severing wires. The burst of electricity that was released knocked Roland out cold. Hunter made to finish Ro off.  
"Hold it, Hunter, or you'll never see your precious talisman again!" Egon held it up.  
Hunter's eyes grew wide with the hunger for power. "My talisman!" he screeched. "Give it to me, human! With it I can make a world full/i of werewolves, and hunt them for eternity! Give it to me, and I will give you your friend's life!" He laid the sword at Roland's throat.p  
"ATOH!" came Kylie's voice from behind them. She stood over Eduardo with her hands clasped in front of her face, as if in prayer. "MALKUT!" She drew her hands down, still palm-to-palm, in front of her chest.  
"The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram? Are you serious?!?" The ghost laughed. "You haven't got an athame, and even if you did, you--"  
Egon used the distraction to make one final adjustment on his pack. Then he opened fire. "Kylie! NOW!" he cried, as the proton beam immobilized Hunter.  
Kylie threw the trap. In moments, the ghost was snug inside it.  
Which was a very good thing, since Janine & Garret's packs gave out. The wolves shook their heads as they came out from under Hunter's trance. Then they tried to pull their collars off with their paws, whining like they were nothing more than big, friendly retrievers. The two Ghostbusters weren't sure whether they should help the animals or not.  
Egon revived Roland, making sure the young man suffered no serious injury.  
Kylie held a convulsing Eduadro-wolf in her arms, a hand pressed to the wound in his shoulder. She looked to the Moon, low in the sky, the tears in her eyes glistening in it's light. Dawn would come soon, but would Eduardo live to see it? She shed her moonlit tears on his slowly stilling form. After a little while, his struggles ceased entirely.  
When she realized he'd stopped moving, she pulled back with a jolt. "Eduardo?" she breathed. "EDUARDO?!?"  
The others came running over, the werewolves too. Egon had assured the other Ghostbusters that the werewolves posed no threat, and got them to go set the other two in the Ecto-1, loose then remove all the collars. With the moon setting, the beasts were slowly returning to their human forms. Now they all surrounded the pair.  
The other Ghostbusters were shocked to find Eduardo lying there, instead of resting at the firehouse. Odder still to Roland and Garrett was that he was naked, like the werewolves.  
Janine was quicker on the uptake. "Oh, Egon! We should have realized--"  
"I know, Janine." he laid a hand on her shoulder. "But Kylie, why is he unconcious?" He figured she was crying simply from learning that the boy had been cursed. Eduardo had a gash on his shoulder, but it didn't look bad, and his nakedness didn't allow for a more serious injury to be hidden.  
Kylie just sobbed.  
An image of Hunter with the sword pressed to Kylie's throat flashed through Egon's mind. He realized what Kylie clearly already knew. He bent down, desparately looking for a pulse. He didn't have to look hard. "He's alive!"  
Kylie looked up at him, hope blooming in her eyes. Maybe Eduardo's wound was shallow enough that his body was fighting off the poison.  
"Lets get him back to the firehouse!" Egon barked, not elaborating. He pried the young man from a stunned Kylie's arms and gave him to Roland, who slung him over his shoulder and ran back to the Ecto-1, the others close behind.  
Kylie got in first, and Ro handed Eduardo to her. The others piled in, Egon, Roland, & Janine up front, Garrett & his folded chair in the back seat with Kylie & Eduardo, & the werewolves, who were now more human than wolf, in the cage for lack of room. The werewolves put on the four extra suits that were kept in the Ecto-1, and they found a blanket to wrap Eduardo in. Roland put on the siren and floored it. 


	8. Night 4: Save it 'Til the Morning After

The young Ghostbusters skipped their classes that day. Luckily Egon was good friends with a couple of their teachers so he could smooth things over for them. Eduardo's reason was different than he rest of them, tho; rather than doing research or working on the proton guns, he slept all day. For once, no one gave him flack for it.  
By evening, Roland and Garrett were satisfied that they had modified the beams to safely contain a living creature. Roland installed a cage in the back of the Ecto-1. When it was time to go, they would have to help Garrett into the back seat & fold up his chair. He would take Eduardo's seat.  
Meanwhile, Kylie had found an entry on stopping lycanthropy . It stated that, unlike popular fiction depicted, silver did not harm a werewolf. Instead, it explained, contact with it locked them into their animal form, while contact with wolfsbane made them human. The two combined, however, such as a silver dagger laced with wolfsbane oil, would leave a wound that wouldn't fully heal and poison the beast. The result was the human and wolf sides warring to be in control, and, if the poor being survived the struggle, a nasty scar.  
Of course, the Ghostbusters wouldn't use such a thing, but Egon was afraid Hunter might.  
By late evening, they were ready to leave, Janine included. Eduardo was still out cold when they left...  
***  
Harold stood in the park, right where the werewolf had ambushed him. His own pack of wolves was milling about his legs. Each wore the silver collars he's put around their necks when he'd caught them. They all had a vacant look in their eyes.  
"Soon, my pets, soon it will be feeding time..."  
***  
Ohhhhh boy, here we go again with the strange dreams... Eduardo thought. Like the night before, he had awakened to find himself in the body of a canis lupis. He hadn't been alarmed the first time because he thought he was deaming. He wasn't so sure this time. Funny, I don't feel like eating anyone.  
He looked at the clock. 10:27 pm. The others were out werewolf hunting. The joker in him couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation-- them leaving to find what was right under their noses. He should have been relieved. If he was the werewolf, if he was here and they were gone, then both he and they were safe from each other.  
But he couldn't shake the bad vibes he'd gotten from Harry. There was something the man was hiding, and it wasn't in regards to the werewolf. Something about how he acted towards Kylie. Eduardo tried to tell himself it was just jealousy, but he couldn't shake the feeling she was in danger. He had to find her.  
He made his way down the stairs, finding it difficult to descend on all fours, but managing. The door out would be a bigger issue--  
Except that the garage door was open.  
Janine was usually the one to close it after they left in the Ecto-1. She must have gone with them, to take his place. It was rare that she helped with the actual ghostbusting, but she'd proven herself in the field before. They probably thought they could use all the help they could get...  
A few people actually gaped to see a wolf lope down the streets of New York, not knowing it was hot on the trail of the Ecto-1.  
***  
It wasn't long before the Ghostbusters came across Harold. He was just sitting on a park bench, alone.  
"I thought you were gonna go bag a big bad werewolf!" Garrett stated, somehow accusingly.  
"I am," the dapper gent replied calmy. "In my experience, stay in one place long enough and the prey will come to you."  
Kylie's intuition was going nuts. Part of her trusted Harold unquestioningly. Another, deeper part was screaming that something was desparately wrong. But which part should she listen to?  
Harold patted the seat next to him. "Sit, my dear. It would have been better if you'd stayed away, but I confess that I am happy you did come."  
Garrett kept looking around, like a shell-shocked soldier expecting to be hit any moment. "Aren't you afraid?!? That werewolf tore you to peices last time, and you still don't even have a weapon!"  
"Don't I, now? Appearances can be deceiving, my boy."  
There was a low growling from behind them. And in front of them. And to the left. To the right. Glowing eyes burst forth from he darkness, beyond the trees, followed by snarling wolves. They were surrounded!  
When they were settled & on their way, Garret decided it was time for explanations. "Ok, so what was all that goin' on back there? Harry was a ghost?"  
Egon answered almost absently. "Harold Hunter was the Hunter, the man who killed the Garou Matriarch. He loved hunting werewolves so much that he continued to do it, even after death. When all the werewolves were gone, he used the talisman to make more. Am I right?" He directed the question to the werewolves in the back.  
Garrett kept to himself the remark that came to mind, that he felt like he was in a Scooby-doo rerun.  
One of the Garou nodded. "Yeah, but he not manage to kill us all off, or even catch all of us, until recen'ly." Louis Garou's voice was soft, and had a cajun lilt to it. "We fo' are de last. I escape, an' take de talisman wit' me. Den I run into dis pretty p'tite, here." He motioned to Kylie, who until then only had eyes for the wounded man in her arms.  
She looked up at his geture, eyes wide. "That was you?"  
He nodded. "He must 'ave seen us collide, seen you pick up my bag, an' follow you." He looked at her, a blatant stare of open curiosity. "You have de glow of de witch about you, in yo' aura."  
No one noticed Kylie twitch at that, her secret stated as if it were common knowledge. She was too upset to give it much thought tho, not even to hope that her friends didn't realize how close to the truth the remark was.  
"Hunter hunt witches during de inquisition, t'reaten to expose dem if dey not obey 'im. He practice on dem and become a master of de mental manipulation. He have dem teach 'im 'bout herbs, and use dat knowlege to drug 'is victims. He neva resist de pretty face, such a prize! He pro'lly 'tink gettin' you wit de talisman an extra bonus!"  
Kylie buried her face in Eduardo's neck, ashamed. She'd fallen under the evil man's spell-- no wonder she'd felt so foggy all the time-- and failed to see the man for what he was! She didn't look up as Loius finished his story.  
"Hunter tell us dat he knows de p'tite mus' have de talisman, dat he will take it an' her too. He decide de ot'er Ghos'busders migh' make good loup garou, werewolves. He sense dat one o' you a'ready is." He gestured to Eduardo's still form.  
Egon remarked, "Yes, I should have realized that he would be."  
Roland took his eyes off the road for a moment to give the man a perplexed look. "How? And why?"  
"The tooth is set in silver. Eduardo pricked his finger with it." As if that explained t.  
"AND???" Garrett prompted.  
Janine elaborated. "He did it during a full moon. According to the legend, the Garou Matriarch could grant others her power by biting them while wearing silver druing a full moon."  
"Um... I thought he did that on the day before the full moon, and in the middle of the afternoon..." Roland pointed out.  
"To de loup garou, de day before and de day after is good enuff, non?"  
"Oh, well then..." Garrett muttered. Then he finally put together what they were saying. "Waitaminute-- you're saying Eddy here was one of the wolves last night?!?" They all just looked at him, as if he had suddenly revealed to them that the sky was blue. He thought of another question, hoping it wouldn't make him look any more dense than he felt. "So why is he hurt, then? I mean, don't you guys have like super-healing like Wolverine?"  
Kylie's voice was so soft, everyone but the werefolk had to strain to hear her. "He was hit by Hunter's rapier while trying to save me."  
"Soooooo... what does that mean? Why hasn't he healed yet?"  
Loius offered, "De rapier, it be made of silver an' laced wit' de wolfsbane. Dat be a bad combo to de Garou, non?" He might have been discussing the weather, the way he said it.  
Garret would have popped him one, had he not been too mortified by the implication behind the words to move. The Ghostbusters all remembered what Egon had told them about that duo.  
Kylie began to sob again, her face pressed against Eduardo's chest.  
"Hey..." his voice came weakly. He ran a hand through her hair. "Are you all right, chica?"  
"Eduardo?!?" She looked him in the face, eyes wide with shock and red with crying. She smiled and laughed faintly, not quite believing what she was seeing. She touched his face to reassure herself that he was alive, that she wasn't dreaming.  
Roland pulled over to see the miracle, turning off the siren. The Ghostbusters all expressed their relief with soft words and gentle squeezes of his arm-- the good one-- their eyes wet with tears of joy, even Garrett.  
"How?" Janine asked Egon in a whisper. He just shook his head in reply, baffled himself.  
The Garou, with their superior senses, had heard Janine's question. The seemed baffled themselves, but only in that the Ghostbusters seemed surprised. "Is dat what all de hurry was about? You t'ought he migh' still die?" Louis gave them a curious look. "But he was betta' b'fo' we even git in de ca'!"  
It took them all a moment to figure out what he'd said. Janine was the first. "What do you mean, he was already better? How did you know? How did he fight the poison?"  
It was clear by the glances they exchanged that the Garou thought them more than a bit odd. Louis spoke patiently, as if trying to answer an errant child who kept asking why. "Well, he wasn' bouncing back an' forth between man an' wolf by den, was he? An he was still alive, so he had to have been rid of de poison. De struggle don' stop till de poison is is stopped or yo' dead!"  
"But how was the poison stopped?" Roland pressed.  
Louis smiled. "De Moon-blessed tears o' de witch, dey be powerful proof agains' poison, non? Her magic heal him."  
Sure enough, when they looked at his shoulder, they saw that the wound was healed over, a white scar in its place. Well, if her teammates didn't know she was a witch before, they surely knew now. Yet all she saw in their expressions was relief that she had been able to save their friend's life. A friend she herself was overjoyed at having been able to save. Her happiness at that wiped away all her fears.  
With all their eyes on him, Eduardo realized something. "Um... where... are my clothes?!?" 


	9. Night 4: the Perfect End to a Perfect Da...

"You mean I'm stuck like this?!?" Eduardo cried around a bit of donut, almost choking on it.  
Garrett slapped him on the back, a little harder than necessary. "Now there's the way ta go, survive being hunted down by a ghost for being a werewolf, only to be done in by a Krispy Kreme!"  
Kylie, seated to his left on the shabby couch, put her arm around him, rubbing his good shoulder reassuringly. He smiled tenderly at her before Louis caught his attention again.  
"No' really. You will always be a loup garou, bu' you don' have to be a wolf, non?"  
"Uh, translation, please, 'Gambit'?" Garrett raised his hand in question.  
Egon spoke up. "He means that, while there's no cure for lycanthropy, there is a way to hold the wolf at bay."  
Eduardo leaned forward over the table, both anxious and annoyed. "Ok, I'll bite," he winced and the others groaned at his unintended pun. "How?"  
"Wolfsbane."  
"Ohhhhh no!" Eduardo shook his head & waved his hands in an emphatic gesture. "Been there, done that, man! If it weren't for Kylie..." He squeezed her hand gently, a quiet thank-you.  
Loius smiled warmly, amused. "Wolfsbane is only poisonous if combin' wit' silver an' brough' in contact w' de blood. Skin contact wi' dat combo be painful, bu' no' fatal. Wolfsbane by i'self keep de wolf away, like silver by i'self keep the man away. Jus' tink of it was havin' an alle'gy to silver, non?-- stay away from it, an' you stay a man."  
Eduardo did not look happy, but he nodded.  
"Look at it this way, Eddy! Now you can be a superhero!"  
The others scowled at Garrett. "That's not funny--" Janine began.  
"No, no, hear me out! He's pretty much invulnerable now, right?"  
"Well, not exactly," Egon quibbled.  
Garrett huffed, impatient. "Yeah, yeah, he can get hurt, but he heals real fast, just so long as he doesn't get killed before he can heal, yadda yadda. But it's still a step up from the rest of us, and a pretty cool one!"  
Eduardo thought about it while the others deliberated, the conversation eventually moving on to other things. Garrett was right, this could be a good thing. But how did Kylie fell about his being part wolf now? How could anyone not see it as monstrous?  
***  
When Kylie got out of the shower, she found everyone fast asleep all over the living room. Everyone, that was, but Eduardo. He wasn't in the room at all.  
She shook Roland gently awake. "Your turn for the shower," she murmured. She found Eduardo in the kitchen, looking out the window. She walked up beside him, touching him lightly on he shoulder, with the back of her fingers. "Hey."  
He loked at her, smiling sadly. "Hey."  
Her hand slid slowly, softly down his arm before she stepped back. She leaned against the window, still facing him slightly. She held her other hand out, closed and face down.  
He turned to face her more. She looked so beautiful in the twilight, her wet hair glistening, leaving sparkling beads of water on her glowing skin, her white tanktop turned to gold with the sun's dying touch. Her eyes were lumious with an inner light that spoke of kindness.  
She told him to hold out his hand, & he obeyed, an unspoken question on his lips. She opened her hand into his, then drew it back, caressing his fingers lightly as she did. He had a hard time drawing his eyes away from her porcelain visage to see what she'd given him. When he did, he found a little black bag with a star embroidered on it in gold thread, waiting on his palm.  
"It's a wonga bag. I made it while you were in the shower. The Garou promised to bring some dried wolfsbane for you to put in it."  
He looked back up at her. His eyes were glistening, & he found he was unable to speak for a moment. Then finally, softly, "Thank you." Louder, "Thank you for being so understanding, for not--" his voice broke, tears falling,"--not walking away..."That last was a whisper.  
"Shhhhhh..." She was crying now too. She kissed him, softly but lingering. "Thank you for saving me. It doesn't bother me that you're a werewolf now." She smiled coyly. "It's... interesting. Wolves are special animals, not at all what the stories make them out to be." She kissed him again. His goatee tickled her, but she liked it. She found his scruffiness, his bad boy exterior, very alluring. He might be the wolf, but it was she who felt hungry-- for him.  
Her smile faded tho, as she remembered that her own secret was out now. "Does it bother you that I'm a witch?"  
He answered her with a kiss, long and passionate, lifting her off the ground. Finally he set her down, gently, both of them gasping for air. He continued to hold her though, and she thought if he didn't, she might not be able to stand. Just as well; she didn't want him to ever let her go...  
"You've always been a witch, right?"  
Still breathless, she simply nodded.  
"And I've always LOVED you..."  
She smiled and hugged him, pressing her face against his warm chest. "Oh, Eduardo!" She rolled the "r", saying it in that sensuous latin way she did in his dreams. For a moment, he panicked, fearing it was only a dream after all. She kissed him again, and he decided that, if it was, he was simply never going to wake up.  
"I love you too," she whispered, and he knew from the beating of his heart that he'd never been imore/i awake-- or ialive...  
Janine smiled, tears in her eyes like she got from watching a sweet, touching scene in a movie. Even Slimer knew well enough to stay quiet & not ruin the moment for the two kids. The sight left an ache in her heart, tho. She only knew of one thing that could ease it...  
She crept into Egon's room and discovered he was already awake. He was just lying there, staring up at the ceiling. iUh-oh, I know that look..., she thought. She closed the door behind her, then set herself down on the covers, laying her head and arm over his chest, snuggling up to him. He put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.  
"What's wrong," she asked, her voice slightly muffled by his chest. She waited patiently as he took his time gathering his thoughts. Given how far they tended to roam, it usually took a while.  
Finally, "I failed them, Janine."  
She looked up into his eyes. "What?..."  
"I should have realized that Eduardo had been cursed sooner, put the pieces together about Hunter & the curse faster, shouldn't have told the others about Kylie without asking her, should have prepared them all better for what they were facing, should have--"  
"--been psychic? Egon, no one can know everything that might happen, or even should. What happened to Edaurdo was an unfortunate accident. Or maybe Kylie's right about fate, who knows? Either way, it was out of your hands. You can't contrl the kids' evey action, every thought & decision! They have to live their lives for themselves! And that includes taking risks!"  
Egon sighed. He knew she was right, but he still felt responsible. She kissed him, and he felt a little better. She kissed him again, and he felt a lot better.  
"Besides," she said between attempts to suffocate him, "I think this may actually work out better for him, and for Kylie too. Right now they're learning new things about themselves and eachother." She grinned mischeviously. "In the kitchen. I'd say they're having about as much fun as we are."  
Egon's eyes grew wide. "Kylie and Eduardo?!?" Well, it really shouldn't surprise me, he thought. You can cut the tension between them with a proton beam! It'll just be odd seeing them get alaong after fighting for so long... Well, they'll probably still fight, at that! "Do we need to play chaperones?"  
"Mmm, I don't think they can get into that much trouble in the kitchen..."  
Egon had a wicked gleam in his eye. "We've gotten into plenty of 'trouble' in there!"  
"Oh, you!" She giggled like a school girl, sitting up and hitting him in the face with a pillow. Soon the room was filled with laughter and feathers...  
AN ENDING 


End file.
